JP3338591B2 - Conference call device and conference call method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a private branch exchange (hereinafter referred to as "PBX") or a dealing telephone system, and more particularly, to a conference telephone system capable of holding a conference with an unspecified number of parties. In addition, it relates to a conference call method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a conference call apparatus for simultaneously communicating with a plurality of parties allows a plurality of terminal apparatuses to be connected to each other by using a conference trunk provided in a digital exchange apparatus, and that a call can be made. Conventionally, a general analog trunk such as a magnetic telephone trunk is double-connected in the private branch exchange facility by the number of terminal devices participating in a conference, and a conference call is performed between a plurality of terminal devices.

However, in the above-described conventional conference call apparatus using a conference trunk, one terminal device is connected to one port of the conference trunk.
As the number of participants in a conference increases, a corresponding number of conference trunk ports are required. Meanwhile, conference trunk 1
Because there is a limit on the connection capacity (number of ports) per connection,
When the number of participants in a conference is large, a plurality of conference trunks must be provided, and there has been a problem that the system becomes huge. Further, in the above-described apparatus for connecting multiple analog trunks, the call level and the sound quality are significantly reduced as the number of apparatuses increases, and the same as the apparatus using a conference trunk. However, there is a problem that the number of analog trunks increases and the system becomes huge.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and is intended to connect a large number of terminal devices to a conference trunk of a private branch exchange and all terminal devices connected to the trunk are connected. To provide a conference call device capable of listening to the contents of a conference and allowing only necessary terminal devices to participate in the conference, and capable of conducting a conference call between a large number of terminal devices without being restricted by the capacity of a conference trunk of a digital private branch exchange. With the goal.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To solve the above-mentioned problems, a conference call apparatus according to the present invention is a digital private branch exchange, in which all terminal devices that normally participate in a conference call are connected to a conference trunk of the conference call apparatus. In this case, the number of terminal devices can be limited only by the line capacity of the switching equipment without being limited by the capacity of the conference trunk by making a branch connection to one of the ports to listen to the contents of the conference.
Furthermore, when participating in a conference, that is, when transmitting to the conference, the terminal device indicates the intention to participate in the conference, thereby connecting the terminal device to the conference trunk port one-to-one to perform a conference call. It was possible to talk.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration of a conference call apparatus accommodated in a digital private branch exchange (PBX) according to the present invention, and shows one situation in which a conference call is being performed. FIG. 2 illustrates a situation in which one of the conference listening terminal devices illustrated in FIG. 1 has participated in the conference, and the terminal device that has been participating in the conference has shifted to listening. 1 and 2, the conference call device includes a line control device (LCU) 1 and a plurality of terminal devices (TEL) 4a to 4f connected thereto. The line control device 1 includes a time division switch (TSW) 2 and a line circuit 3 to which each terminal device is connected.
, Trunk (TRK) 6, and conference trunk (CFT)
7 The conference trunk 7 has a plurality of bidirectional communication ports (P0 to P4) 8a to 8e, and during a conference call, the trunk 6 and the plurality of terminal devices 4a to 4f are connected via these ports. Interconnected.

The characteristic structure of the conference call device of the present invention is as follows.
The point is that at least one of the two-way communication ports 8a to 8e is used as an output port to which a plurality of listening terminal devices are branched and connected. That is, the terminal device 4a of the meeting convener comprises the line circuit 3 and the time-division switch 2
Is connected to the communication port 8b of the conference trunk 7 in a one-to-one manner. Conference participant terminals 4b and 4c
Are similarly connected one-to-one to the communication ports 8c and 8d of the conference trunk 7 via the line circuit 3 and the time division switch 2. On the other hand, the terminal devices 4d to 4f of the plurality of conference listeners are branch-connected to one communication port 8e of the conference trunk 7 via the line circuit 3 and the time division switch 2, respectively.

FIG. 3 is an external view showing an example of the external appearance of the terminal devices 4a to 4f connected to the conference call device according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal device 4 includes a dial display device 9, a line key 10, an auto dial key 11
, A function key 12, a numeric keypad 13, and a telephone handset 14. To make a call from this terminal device, press the line key 10 to capture the line,
There is a method of dialing a selection signal, and a method of pressing an auto-dial key 11 in which a line to be captured and a selection signal are stored in advance as data. The latter has the merit that the other party can be called with one touch.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the board of the terminal device 4 connected to the conference call device according to the present invention. The line key 10, Ru <br/> are lines accommodated such office line or a dedicated line. The auto-dial key 11 stores dial data of a partner to be called frequently. The function key 12 is a key for realizing functions such as hold and transfer. The status indicators 19 provided for the respective keys are for displaying the usage status of the respective keys, and are generally constituted by lamps such as LEDs. A graphic or character may be displayed on the key itself, and the use state may be displayed by turning on a lamp built in the key. Furthermore, a conference key 15 as a virtual line key for a conference call, an auto-dial key 17 accommodating a destination for a conference invitation, and a function key for switching between transmitting and listening to the conference. A conference switching key 16 is provided.

[0010]

Next, the operation of the conference call apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the meeting convener:
The conference key 15 of the terminal device 4a is pressed to call for the conference. At this time, the status indicator 1 corresponding to the conference key 15 of the other terminal devices 4b to 4f accommodating the conference key 15
By displaying that the terminal 9 is in use, the user of the other terminal device can recognize that the conference starts.
Subsequently, the conference convener sends a selection signal for capturing the conference trunk 7 and a selection signal for calling the destination of the conference from the terminal device 4a. This is a method of directly dialing a selection signal using the numeric keypad 13 as described above,
Alternatively, it is performed by a method of performing one-touch operation by pressing the auto dial key 17 in which a selection signal is stored in advance. When the other party answers, the terminal 4a of the meeting convener
Is the line circuit 3 and the communication port 8b of the conference trunk 7
And a call port 8a and a trunk via the trunk 6.

[0011] A virtual line key (conference key) 15 for a conference call is accommodated in all terminal devices that intend to make a conference call. When the meeting convener starts the meeting, the terminal 4
A call is made using the conference key 15a, and a selection signal is transmitted by any method such as dial operation (this selection signal includes a special number for capturing the conference trunk).
Call the other party, such as an extension or office line, and talk. At this time, the other terminal devices 4b to 4f can join the conference by pressing the conference key 15, but in this state, these terminal devices are connected to one port 8e of the conference trunk 7 and the content of the conference is You can only listen. There is no limit to the number of terminal devices that can be listened to due to the configuration and nature of the time-division time switch, so that the content of the conference can be heard at all terminal devices accommodated in the PBX.

As shown in FIG. 2, when the terminal device 4c, which has been speaking for the conference, finishes speaking, the terminal device 4c operates the conference switching key 16 to output a signal indicating the departure of the conference to the conference communication device. Upon receiving this signal, the conference call device connects the line circuit 3 to which the terminal device 4c is connected to the branch call port 8e of the conference trunk 7. On the other hand, when the terminal device 4d, which has been listening to the conference, attempts to speak to the conference, a specific operation, for example, depressing the conference switching key 16 from the terminal device 4d causes the conference call device to perform the conference. Issue a meeting join order, which means joining the meeting. When the conference call device recognizes the conference participation command, the line device 3 to which the terminal device 4d is connected is connected to the two-way communication port 8d of the conference trunk 7 on a one-to-one basis. Switch to a state where you can also.

However, the number of terminal devices that can shift to the conference participation state depends on the capacity of the conference trunk (the number of bidirectional ports).
Therefore, when there is no intention to speak, a specific operation, for example, by depressing the conference switching key 16 again, must promptly return to the listening only state.

As described above, the conference call equipment value according to the present invention includes a plurality of bidirectional communication ports, a means for recognizing a conference participation command issued from a terminal device, and a method for recognizing the conference participation command upon recognition of the conference participation command. Means for connecting the terminal device that has issued the join instruction one-to-one with the two-way communication port of the conference trunk;
Means for branch-connecting at least one terminal device having no conference participation instruction to at least one branch call port of the conference trunk.

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention,
After the conference call is started by the conference caller, other terminal devices can join the conference by pressing the conference key, but in this state, they can only listen to the content of the conference. Since the number of terminal devices to be monitored is unlimited due to the nature of the digital trunk, the content of the conference can be heard by all terminal devices accommodated in the PBX. Also, when trying to speak at a meeting, a specific operation is performed to switch from a state of only listening to a state of transmitting. However, the number of terminal devices that can shift to this state is limited by the capacity of the conference trunk. By switching the state of the terminal device for the conference call in this way, a conference call with a large number of people can be realized with a minimum system configuration as compared with the related art.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conference call device of a digital private branch exchange according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the digital private branch exchange according to the present invention after the connection of the conference call device is changed.

FIG. 3 is an external view of a terminal device connected to the conference call device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing one embodiment of a panel of a terminal device connected to the conference call device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Line control unit (LCU) 2 Time division switch (TSW) 3 Line circuit (LIN) 4 Terminal device (TEL) 6 Trunk (TRK) 7 Conference trunk (CFT) 8 Communication port (8a-8e) 9 Dial display device DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Line key 11 Auto dial key 12 Function key 13 Numeric keypad 14 Handset for telephone call 15 Conference key 16 Conference switching key 17 Conference destination auto dial key 18 Local line key 19 Status display

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A conference call apparatus which is accommodated in a digital private telephone exchange facility, has a plurality of terminal devices connected thereto, and has a conference trunk having a plurality of two-way call ports. Means for recognizing a conference participation instruction from a terminal device to be provided, and means for connecting the terminal device which has issued the conference participation instruction when recognizing the conference participation instruction to the bidirectional communication port of the conference trunk one-to-one, Means for branch-connecting one or more terminal devices having no conference participation instruction to at least one branch communication port of a conference trunk. 2. A terminal device comprising: a virtual line key for a conference call;
2. The conference communication device accommodated in the private branch exchange according to claim 1 , further comprising a conference key as a key, and a conference switching key for selecting conference participation or conference listening. 3. A while being accommodated in a digital private branch telephone exchange equipment, a plurality of terminal devices are connected, in a conference call method of a conference call device with conference trunk having a plurality of two-way communication port, two-way communication port Wherein at least one of the terminals is a branch call port for branch connection to a plurality of terminal devices, and a terminal device for making a conference call is branch connected to the branch call port. 4. The conference communication method according to claim 3 , wherein the terminal device is connected to the two-way communication port one-to-one by receiving a conference participation instruction from a terminal device participating in the conference.